Open Thread: Do You Need to be Where the Action is?
November 28th, 2007 (2:00pm) Mike Gunderloy 4 Comments
At WWD, we’re firmly convinced that you can work anywhere: rural, urban, on a plane, in a coffeeshop, and in many stranger places. But is everyone else out there as convinced as we are? A WWD reader writes to ask “How do you grow your business and manage your clients when you work/live miles away from the geographical hub that your target industry is in? ” For example, can a music-industry web worker make it outside of Nashville, Los Angeles, and New York? He reports discouragement from his own colleagues, who say “you’ll never do any business where you live. You have to live in the industry hubs to not only make it easier for your clients, but also to feel the buzz.”
While we’ve covered many ways to collaborate without being there, and the entire apparatus of social networks works well for picking up the “buzz” in many industries, the intangible and emotional factors of being perceived as out of touch can be harder to handle. So what do you do to stay a part of the action? Subscribe to more information sources? Attend more conferences? Schedule more business trips? Or is the pleasure of web work just worth the tradeoff of being a bit out of the center of things? Share your strategies and successes below!
4 Comments Post your own comment
Paul Carney says: November 28th, 2007 2:57pm
Hearing the comment that you “have to live where the action is” reminds me of a similar comment from an old-world style manager who could not conceive of the need for more than 10 or so computers….
It is much easier to work outside of the physical hub if you have already lived there and built your network. I have done that and still remain very connected to my industry.
The best way that I keep in touch is to attend conferences and to stay connected with people - whether it is sharing an article I just read regarding a new industry item or chatting on the phone/IM about the latest news. That keeps me with the “in-crowd”, even though I have left the Washington, DC, area and live here in the sunny panhandle of Florida!
jaymeany says: November 28th, 2007 3:21pm
As far as that goes I am a web dev that has transplanted to Austin from LA. I have a couple clients that are music labels based in LA. As well my company serves several largish LA based businesses. Now, I did develop these relationships while I lived there, the transition to Austin has been pretty seamless. I spent a lot of time nurturing those relationships and made them all aware of what I was doing obviously running the risk of losing some if they were not comfortable with my locale. Fortunately, I have not lost a single client and I have also added more work from each including referrals to newer clients also based in LA. I make it a point to make sure that they all understand that I am physically local to them about 1x a month and I do a lot of site calls when I am there. As well a lot of phone calls and constant Basecamp updates seem to keep people feeling in touch and in control. In the end it all comes down to managing expectations.
This has worked for me so far for about 7 months and I have seen growth, so I do believe that it is possible to live elsewhere.
dtj says: November 28th, 2007 3:21pm
There is definitely something to this, namely “the buzz”. Some industry its probably not all that important, but in some industries its very important. For instance, in the computer business, there is a definite buzz in silly-con valley. Being from the Silicon Tundra, I could feel it in the air when you get off the plane at SFO or SJC. I wouldn’t have believed it, right up until I felt it. It never intrigued me enough to pay the price (soul, cash, health, etc) to move out there. I also saw that some of that buzz was simple white noise of no consequence. When working in a mixed-geography group, our midwestern team was lightyears more productive than our bay area counterparts, and we did it on 40 hrs/week, rather than the bay area minimum of 60 hrs/week. I like visiting the zoo, but have never considered living there. ;-)
Finding a connection to that buzz is part of the hidden cost of living beyond the natural range of that buzz. Whether its travel, getting hooked into social networks, or being outstanding and being a buzz generator, you just have to do it yourself.
The Vine » Blog Archive » You’re located where again? says: November 29th, 2007 4:56am
[...] From a recent post on WWD, “At WWD, we’re firmly convinced that you can work anywhere: rural, urban, on a plane, in a coffeeshop, and in many stranger places. But is everyone else out there as convinced as we are? A WWD reader writes to ask “How do you grow your business and manage your clients when you work/live miles away from the geographical hub that your target industry is in? ” For example, can a music-industry web worker make it outside of Nashville, Los Angeles, and New York? He reports discouragement from his own colleagues, who say “you’ll never do any business where you live. You have to live in the industry hubs to not only make it easier for your clients, but also to feel the buzz.” Definitely worth a read with your morning cup o’ joe. [...]